Filter element, in particular for gas filtration

ABSTRACT

A filter element has a filter medium body with a first side and an oppositely positioned second side, wherein one of the first and second sides is the inflow side of the filter medium body and the other one is the outflow side of the filter medium body. A first sealing or supporting element is arranged at the first side. A second sealing or supporting element is arranged at the second side. At least one force-transmitting adhesive bead extends between the first side and the second side, wherein the at least one adhesive bead is a force transmitting element extending between the first and second sealing or supporting elements.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/113,025 having a filing date of 27 Aug. 2018. U.S. Ser. No.16/113,025 is a continuation of international application No.PCT/EP2017/052965 having an international filing date of 10 Feb. 2017and designating the United States, the international applicationclaiming a priority date of 26 Feb. 2016 based on prior filed Germanpatent application No. 10 2016 002 246.9, the entire contents of theaforesaid US application, international application and the aforesaidGerman patent application being incorporated herein by reference to thefullest extent permitted by the law.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention concerns a filter element, in particular for gasfiltration, for example, for an air filter, with a filter medium bodycomprising at least one adhesive bead extending between inflow side andoutflow side at the filter medium body.

DE 10 2010 025 971 B4 discloses an air filter that is used forfiltration of the intake air of internal combustion engines. The airfilter comprises a filter medium body, which is embodied as a foldedfilter and comprises adhesive beads for separating the raw side from theclean side. The adhesive beads fill the intermediate fold space in thelateral area of the folded filter and extend between the fold tips ofthe folded filter lying at the raw side and the clean side.

The filter element is received in a filter housing that can be closed bya housing cover. At the inner side of the cover, a housing seal isdisposed in a circumferentially extending groove and loads the filterelement in the rim area at the clean side and pushes it into its seat inthe receiving filter housing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention has the object to embody with simple constructive measuresa filter element that is stable.

This object is solved according to the invention in that a sealing orsupporting element is arranged, respectively, at the inflow side and atthe outflow side at the filter medium body and the adhesive bead forms aforce transmitting element extending between the sealing or supportingelements. The dependent claims provide expedient further embodiments.

The filter element according to the invention is preferably used for gasfiltration, for example, as air filter in the intake manifold of aninternal combustion engine, preferably for a truck. However, a use ofthe filter element for liquid filtration is conceivable also.

The filter element comprises a filter medium body which is manufacturedfrom a filter material and at which the filtration is taking place. Atleast one adhesive bead is arranged at the filter medium body, forexample a glue bead, that is located at the filter medium body, forexample, at or neighboring the outer side of the filter medium body, andextends between the oppositely positioned inflow and outflow sides ofthe filter medium body. At the inflow side as well as at the outflowside a sealing or supporting element is arranged at the filter mediumbody, respectively. The at least one adhesive bead forms the forcetransmitting part which is extending between the oppositely positionedsealing or supporting elements.

This embodiment has the advantage that the filter medium body isrelieved of forces which are acting, for example, during insertion ofthe filter element into a receiving filter housing and placement of ahousing cover onto the filter element. Upon placement of the housingcover onto the filter housing, a clamping force is usually generatedwhich presses the filter element into its seat in the filter housing sothat the filter element is seated without clearance in the filterhousing and in particular leakage flows between raw side and clean sideby bypassing the filter element are prevented. This clamping force canbe guided through the sealing or supporting element at one side of thefilter element and the at least one adhesive bead to the oppositelypositioned sealing or supporting element at the filter element.

The sealing or supporting elements themselves are resting directly or bymeans of a further component against the filter housing or against thehousing cover so that a force transmission between housing cover,sealing or supporting element resting against the housing cover,adhesive bead, sealing or supporting element resting against the filterhousing, and filter housing is ensured. In this way, the filter mediumbody of the filter element is relieved of forces so that also the riskof damage is reduced and the service life of the filter element isincreased.

A further advantage resides in the stabilization of the filter mediumbody by means of the at least one adhesive bead. The latter comprises inparticular a higher strength than the filter material of the filtermedium body. Also, the structure of the filter medium body, inparticular in the embodiment as a folded filter, can be stabilized bythe adhesive bead.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the adhesive bead, at least atone side, for example, at the inflow side, is in direct contact with thesealing or supporting element arranged thereat so that the forcetransmission is improved. In addition, an improved seal-tightness isprovided because leakage flows at the transition between the sealing orsupporting element is excluded by the adhesive bead. In an alternativeembodiment, it is also possible that a further component is positionedbetween the sealing or supporting element and the adhesive bead by meansof which the force transmission from sealing or supporting element tothe adhesive bead is realized.

In a further expedient embodiment, at least one sealing or supportingelement is embodied so as to extend circumferentially about the filterelement. In case of a parallelepipedal filter element, for example, thesealing or supporting element is accordingly embodied of a rectangularshape. In an alternative embodiment, the sealing or supporting elementdoes not extend circumferentially but extends along the correspondinginflow side or outflow side only across a partial region along the outercircumference of the filter medium body. In this case, the sealing orsupporting element is also positioned however in axial extension of theadhesive bead in order to enable the desired force transmission betweenthe sealing or supporting element and the adhesive bead. The sealing orsupporting elements at the inflow side and at the outflow side can eachbe embodied to extend circumferentially or each embodied to not extendcircumferentially or to extend only at one side circumferentially and tonot extend circumferentially at the opposite side.

The sealing or supporting element in the embodiment as a sealing elementalso exerts a supporting function. In addition, a sealing action isprovided in particular relative to the adjoining housing walls of thereceiving filter element. In case of a support element, the sealingfunction plays no or only a subordinate role. In this case, a supportaction of the filter element relative to the filter housing or thehousing cover however occurs also and, correspondingly, a forcetransmission to the adhesive bead at the filter medium body.Advantageously, the element is embodied at the inflow side as a sealingelement in order to separate the raw side from the clean side while theelement at the outflow side is selectively embodied as a sealing elementor only as a supporting element.

The sealing or supporting elements at the inflow side and the outflowside are connected fixedly with the filter medium body. This isrealized, for example, in that, when manufacturing the filter element,the sealing or supporting element is cast, foamed or injection moldedfrom a material that can be cast or injection molded, for example, PUR(polyurethane), to the rim area of the filter medium body. In thiscontext, it is preferred that the sealing or supporting element is indirect, friction-fit, preferably form-fit, further preferred seal-tightcontact with the adhesive bead. The seal-tight contact is in particularadvantageous between sealing element and an adhesive bead which isapplied to a zigzag-shaped folded filter medium body because in this waya simple complete sealing action between inflow side and outflow sidecan be achieved since the adhesive bead is also preferably appliedcontinuously such that it separates the raw side from the clean side atthe end face or preferably at both end faces. This means that thesealing or supporting elements each preferably enclose seal-tightly arespective adhesive bead facing the sealing or supporting element.

According to yet another advantageous embodiment, at least one sealingor supporting element projects past the outer side of the filter mediumbody. This makes it possible to use the projecting section for theconnection to the filter housing or to the housing cover and/or forreceiving a seal, for example, in a groove, that is provided in thesealing or supporting element in the region of the projecting section.The groove in the sealing or supporting element can serve also forreceiving a housing-associated or cover-associated projection.

According to a further expedient embodiment, at oppositely positionedouter sides or adjacent to each oppositely positioned outer side of thefilter medium body, an adhesive bead is arranged, respectively, whichextends between the sealing or supporting elements at the inflow sideand the outflow side. In this way, a uniform force transmission atoppositely positioned outer sides of the filter medium body is ensuredthat are positioned angularly relative to the inflow side and theoutflow side, in particular at a right angle.

The adhesive bead is preferably applied immediately to the filtermaterial of the filter medium body and is fixedly connected by adhesiveconnection with the filter medium body.

According to yet another expedient embodiment, the filter medium body isembodied as a folded filter whose fold tips are lying on the inflow sideand the outflow side. Accordingly, the end face edges of the foldsextend zigzag-shaped at an angle of preferably approximately 90°,respectively, relative to the inflow side and outflow side of the filtermedium body. The adhesive bead fills, advantageously uninterrupted,several intermediate fold spaces along the end face edges and extendscorrespondingly across or along a plurality of end face edges of thefolded filter, in particular across or along all end face edges of thefolded filter, in particular at both longitudinal sides of the foldedfilter, preferably at the outflow side or preferably at the side whichis facing the sealing element, and further preferred additionally oralternatively at the inflow side, i.e., preferably additionally oralternatively at the side which is facing away from the sealing elementand is facing the supporting element. The adhesive bead fills theintermediate fold spaces preferably such that a continuous adhesiveextension, which is pressure-resistant in flow direction between inflowside and outflow side after curing, is generated between inflow side andoutflow side or between fold tip and fold base, respectively. In thisembodiment, the adhesive bead forms an end face edge adhesive connectionso that in addition to the force transmission between the sealing orsupporting elements at the inflow side or outflow side also astabilization of the folds is achieved. An introduction of the end faceedge adhesive connection exclusively into the intermediate fold spacesfacing the inflow side is conceivable as well as an introduction of theend face edge adhesive connection into the intermediate fold spacesfacing the inflow side as well as the outflow side, as well as anintroduction of the end face edge adhesive connection exclusively intothe intermediate fold spaces at the outflow side. The adhesive bead inthis context is arranged at the flat side of the filter mediumpreferably slightly spaced apart relative to the end face edges. It isunderstood that an adhesive bead upon application initially represents arope-like applied adhesive trace. Pre-shaped adhesive bodies orplate-shaped plastic or adhesive structures are no adhesive beads.

Since the adhesive bead is preferably applied continuously along the endface edge of the filter medium prior to erecting the folds, the adhesivebead extends preferably respectively also across and past the fold tipsso that, after erection of the folds and hardening of the adhesivebead(s), a comb-like structure is formed which seal-tightly closes offthe intermediate fold spaces relative to the end faces. An advantage ofthe present invention in a preferred embodiment is that the merlons ofthe comb-like structure or comb-like structures formed in this way intheir extension direction can transmit axial forces which result fromthe installation situation of the filter element, wherein for the forcetransmission it is not required that the merlons are connected to eachother by means of the part of an adhesive bead projecting past the foldtips. The advantage can thus be achieved also by an interruption at thislocation. Important for a particularly preferred embodiment is that themerlons or adhesive beads extend continuously from the inflow side tothe outflow side.

In an alternative embodiment, the filter medium body is configured as ablock filter without filter folds. In this case also, at or adjacent tothe outer side of the filter medium body, one or a plurality of adhesivebeads extend between the sealing or supporting elements at the inflowside and the outflow side.

According to an expedient embodiment, either the inflow side or theoutflow side is positioned in a plane while the oppositely positionedside comprises at least two sections with different spacing to theinflow side or outflow side positioned in a plane. Correspondingly, thefilter medium body comprises a flat-surface side which forms either theinflow side or the outflow side and, opposite thereto, a side withdifferent sections which correspondingly forms either the outflow sideor the inflow side. For example, the inflow side is positioned in aplane and the outflow side comprises at least two sections withdifferent spacing to the inflow side. In this embodiment, the filterelement can be adapted in particular to different installationsituations in the filter housing in an optimal way. For example, cutoutsat one side of the filter medium body can be provided, for example, withpart circular cross-section surface in order to adapt the inflow side orthe outflow side, for example, to the shape of a tube through which thefluid is supplied or discharged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages and expedient embodiments are found in the additionalclaims, the figure description, and the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows in perspective view a filter element with a filter mediumbody embodied as a folded filter which at the inflow side as well as atthe outflow side comprises a sealing or supporting element,respectively, wherein at the outer side of the filter medium bodyadhesive beads are introduced into the filter folds which extend betweenthe oppositely positioned sealing or supporting elements.

FIG. 2 shows a filter device with a filter housing and a housing cover,wherein in the filter housing a filter element according to FIG. 1 isreceived.

FIG. 3 shows a filter element in an alternative embodiment in which theoutflow side is comprised of two planes parallel to the inflow side, butat different spacing, and an intermediately positioned part-circularcurved section.

FIG. 4 shows a filter device with the filter element according to FIG. 3in section view.

FIG. 5 shows a filter device with the different components in explodedillustration.

FIG. 6 shows a filter device with a filter element in a furtherembodiment variant in which the inflow side and outflow side each areembodied flat-surfaced but are oriented at an angle relative to eachother.

FIG. 7 shows a section through the lateral area of a filter element of afurther embodiment.

In the Figures, same components use the same reference characters.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In FIG. 1 , a filter element 1 is illustrated that, for example, can beused for air filtration of combustion air to be supplied to an internalcombustion engine in a vehicle such as, for example, a truck. The filterelement 1 comprises a filter medium body 2 of a filter material at whichthe filtration takes place. The flow through the filter element 1 isrealized via the inflow side 3 at the top, in accordance with theillustration of FIG. 1 , in direction of the outflow side 4 at thebottom.

The filter medium body 2 is designed as a folded filter and comprises aplurality of filter folds whose fold tips 5 are lying at the inflow side3 and at the oppositely positioned outflow side 4 and whose end faceedges are facing the lateral outer sides 6 and 7 of the filter mediumbody. Adjacent to the lateral outer sides 6, 7, adhesive beads 8 arearranged at the filter medium body 2 which fill the filter folds thatare open toward the inflow side 3. The lateral adhesive beads 8 closeoff the filter folds at the outer sides 6 and 7 and ensure an axial flowthrough the filter medium body 2 from the inflow side 3 to the outflowside 4. Moreover, the adhesive beads 8 stabilize the folds of the filtermedium body.

At the inflow side 3, there is a first sealing or supporting element 9that is embodied to extend circumferentially and is arranged in the rimarea so that the entire inflow side 3 positioned in a plane is framed bythe sealing or supporting element 9. At the oppositely positionedoutflow side 4 there is also a sealing or supporting element 10 thatalso is arranged in the rim area and is embodied to extendcircumferentially. The two sealing or supporting elements 9, 10 extendeach in the rim area at the inflow side 3 or outflow side 4 and coverthe respective end face edge of each adhesive bead 8. In this way, anaxial force transmission between inflow side and outflow side 3, 4between the sealing or supporting elements 9, 10 through the laterallyextending adhesive beads 8 is ensured. In particular in the installedposition in the receiving filter housing and with attached housing coverwhich loads the filter element 1 with pressure, absorption of theholding forces through the oppositely positioned sealing or supportingelements 9, 10 and the intermediately positioned adhesive beads 8 isensured so that the filter material of the filter medium body 2 isrelieved of these holding forces.

Advantageously, the sealing or supporting elements 9, 10 are appliedimmediately to the filter medium body 2, for example, by casting orinjection molding. The sealing or supporting elements 9, 10 arecomprised, for example, of PUR material. Both sealing or supportingelements 9, 10 are positioned in immediate contact with the respectiveend face edges of the adhesive beads 8 and extend also to the outersides 6 and 7 against which the adhesive beads 8 are resting as well asthe forwardly and rearwardly positioned outer sides of the filter mediumbody 2 which, as a whole, is of a parallelepipedal shape. The inflowside 3 as well as the outflow side 4 are each embodied planar or areal;inflow side and outflow side are lying parallel to each other.

In the sealing or supporting element 9 positioned at the inflow side 3 acircumferentially extending receiving groove 11 for a seal is provided.The receiving groove 11 is located in a section of the sealing orsupporting element 9 which is projecting laterally past the outer sidesof the filter medium body 2. The receiving groove 11 is embodied open inthe direction of the oppositely positioned outflow side 4.

Between the outwardly positioned adhesive beads 8 additional adhesivebeads 12 are provided at the filter medium body 2 which extend parallelto the outwardly positioned adhesive beads 8 forming an end face edgeadhesive connection and which divide the filter folds of the filtermedium body 2 into chambers. The adhesive beads 12 can be embodiedcontinuous or optionally can be embodied interrupted.

Instead of a seal, a projection of the receiving filter housing can alsoproject into the receiving groove 11 at the sealing or supportingelement 10.

In FIG. 2 , a filter device 13 with a filter housing 14 and the filterelement 1 received in the filter housing 14 is illustrated. The filterhousing 14 is closed by a housing cover 15 wherein a sealing element isarranged for sealing between filter housing 14 and housing cover 15. Thefilter element 1 is supported with its lower sealing or supportingelement 10 at the bottom of the receiving filter housing 14 while theoppositely positioned upper sealing or supporting element 9 isforce-loaded by the housing cover 15. The holding force which is exertedthereby is transmitted through the upper sealing or supporting element 9and the adhesive beads 8 into the lower sealing or supporting element 10and farther into the receiving filter housing 14.

FIG. 3 shows the filter element 1 in an embodiment variant in which theoutflow side 4 of the filter medium body 2 is different in comparison tothe embodiment according to FIG. 1 . In FIG. 3 , the filter medium body2 is also embodied as a folded filter and adhesive beads that form anend face edge adhesive connection extend at the outer sides between thesealing or supporting element 9 at the inflow side 3 and the sealing orsupporting element 10 a, 10 b at the outflow side 4. The inflow side 3is embodied planar, the outflow side 4, on the other hand, comprises twooutwardly positioned planar sections 4 a and 4 b and an intermediatelypositioned, inwardly curved section 4 c. The two outwardly positionedsections 4 a, 4 b are positioned at different levels and thus have adifferent spacing to the inflow side 3 relative to which the outwardlypositioned outflow side sections 4 a, 4 b extend parallel. The centralcurved section 4 c is in particular of a part-circular shape and servesto receive a housing-associated outflow tube 16, as shown in particularin FIG. 4 . This makes it possible, as illustrated in FIG. 4 , to fillthe receiving space in the filter housing 14 in an optimal way so thatno housing-associated unused empty spaces are generated. Due to thecurvature, the spacing relative to the oppositely positioned inflow side3 changes within the central section 4 c of the outflow side 4 as afunction of the actual position between the outwardly positioned planarsections 4 a and 4 b.

At the outflow side, the sealing or supporting element is of a two-partconfiguration with a first part 10 a at the outflow side section 4 a anda second part 10 b at the outflow side section 4 b. Each part 10 a, 10 bis embodied U-shaped and frames the sections 4 a, 4 b at the threeoutwardly positioned sides. There is however no sealing or supportingelement at the transition between the outwardly positioned sections 4 aand 4 b along the central section 4 c that is embodied curved.

The adhesive beads at the outer side extend between the upper sealing orsupporting element 9 and the two lower outflow side sealing orsupporting elements 10 a and 10 b. In this way, despite the multi-partconfiguration of the outflow side sealing or supporting element, a forcetransmission between inflow side and outflow side through the adhesivebeads positioned at the outer sides is ensured.

In FIG. 5 , a filter device 1 with its components is shown in explodedillustration. The filter device 13 corresponds to that of FIG. 4 andcomprises a filter element 1 according to FIG. 3 with a planar inflowside 3 and an outflow side 4 with planar but height-displaced sections 4a and 4 b and an intermediately positioned curved section 4 c. Thehousing cover 15 is screwed by screws 17 to the filter housing 14 whichfor this purpose comprises housing eyes 18 into which the screws 17 arescrewed.

In FIG. 6 , a further embodiment with a filter element 1 inserted into afilter housing 14 is illustrated that comprises two flat-surface inflowand outflow sides 3, 4, planar as such, which however are positionedangularly relative to each other. The inflow side 3 is positioned,relative to the insertion direction into the filter housing 14,orthogonally to the filter housing while the outflow side 4 is extendingat an angle deviating from 90° relative to the insertion direction. Thefilter medium body 2 of the filter element 1 is embodied as a foldedfilter which, in the upper and lower rim areas, is framed respectivelyby a sealing or supporting element 9 or 10 wherein holding forcesbetween the housing cover 15 and the filter housing 14 are transmittedby lateral adhesive beads. FIG. 6 also shows an inflow tube for supplyof raw air in the housing cover 15 and an outflow tube for dischargingpurified air at the bottom of the filter housing 14.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 7 , the sealing or supportingelement 9 at the inflow side 3 of the filter medium body 2 is not indirect contact with the end face edge of the adhesive bead 8. Instead, aseal 21 is provided between the end face edge of the adhesive bead 8 andthe sealing or supporting element 9 and extends across the rim area ofthe filter medium body 2 and is in immediate contact with the adhesivebead 8. The sealing or supporting element 9 engages across the seal 21so that holding forces acting on the sealing or supporting element 9 aretransmitted through the seal 21 to the adhesive bead 8.

FIG. 7 also shows that the part of the sealing or supporting element 9projecting past the outer side of the filter medium body 2 comprises thereceiving groove 11 into which a further seal 22 is inserted. In themounted state, the seal 22 is resting against a shoulder in the filterhousing.

What is claimed is:
 1. A filter element comprising: a filter medium bodyof a filter medium, the filter medium body comprising: an inflow face ofthe filter medium body; an oppositely positioned outflow face of thefilter medium body; wherein an axial direction, as used herein, is adirection from the inflow face to the outflow face of the filter mediumbody; wherein the filter medium body has at least one lateral side whichextends from the inflow face to the outflow face; and wherein the filtermedium is folded into a plurality of folds forming pleats extending fromthe inflow face to the outflow face; wherein a first rim edge is formedby the filter medium body where the inflow side meets the at least onelateral side; wherein a second rim edge is formed by the filter mediumbody where the outflow side meets the at least one lateral side; a firstsealing or supporting element cast, foamed or injection molded onto thefirst rim edge the filter medium body at the inflow face; a secondsealing or supporting element cast, foamed or injection molded onto thesecond rim edge the filter medium body at the outflow face; a pluralityof force-transmitting adhesive beads applied and adhesively fixeddirectly onto the filter medium body, the plurality offorce-transmitting adhesive beads extending continuously between andconnecting the first sealing or supporting element to the second sealingor supporting element, wherein the sealing or supporting elements arecontacting against respective axial ends of the plurality offorce-transmitting adhesive beads, such that forces are passed throughthe plurality of force-transmitting adhesive beads from the firstsealing or supporting element to second sealing or supporting element,thereby bypassing axial forces around filter medium of the filter mediumbody; and wherein at least one of the plurality of force-transmittingadhesive beads is positioned a predetermined distance from the at leastone lateral side of the filter medium body creating a plurality ofchambers.
 2. The filter element according to claim 1, wherein at leastone of the first and second sealing or supporting elements extendscircumferentially around the inflow face or the outflow face,respectively.
 3. The filter element according to claim 1, wherein atleast one of the first and second sealing or supporting elements projectradially outward from and projects radially outwardly beyond the atleast one lateral side of the filter medium body.
 4. The filter elementaccording to claim 1, wherein the filter medium is folded into aplurality of folds forming pleats extending from the inflow face to theoutflow face; wherein fold pleats have first fold tips on the inflowface and second fold tips on the outflow face.
 5. The filter elementaccording to claim 4, wherein the plurality of force-transmittingadhesive bead forms an end face edge adhesive connection extendingacross a plurality of end face edges of the folded filter medium.
 6. Thefilter element according to claim 4, wherein the plurality offorce-transmitting adhesive beads seals laterally at least one fold ofthe filter medium.
 7. The filter element according to claim 1, wherein afirst one of the flow faces is positioned in a plane and the second oneof the flow faces comprises at least a first section and a secondsection, wherein the first section has a first spacing relative to thefirst one of the flow faces and the second section has a second spacingrelative to the first one of the flow faces, wherein the first andsecond spacings are different.
 8. The filter element according to claim1, wherein at least one force-transmitting adhesive bead of theplurality of the force-transmitting adhesive beads and at least one ofthe first and second sealing or supporting elements are lying in axialalignment.
 9. The filter element according to claim 1, wherein at leastone of the first and second sealing or supporting elements is cast,foamed or injection molded PUR (polyurethane) material formed directlyonto filter medium.
 10. The filter element according to claim 1, whereinat least one of the first and second sealing or supporting elementsengages across at least one edge of the first or second rim edge, fromthe flow face onto the lateral side.
 11. The filter element according toclaim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of force-transmittingadhesive beads has one or more spaces without adhesive to form anon-continuous, interrupted bead line.
 12. A filter device comprising: afilter element according to claim 1; and a filter housing into which thefilter element is received.
 13. The filter device according to claim 10,further comprising a housing cover; wherein the first sealing orsupporting element of the filter element is supported on the filterhousing, and wherein the second sealing or supporting element of thefilter element is supported on the housing cover.